


Epithet Behind Bars

by AlwaysDayDreaming



Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Study, Death, Fist Fights, Friendship, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, I'm Bad At Tagging, Molly being a cinnamon roll as always, Multi, Original Character(s), Plot, Pray that Indus doesn't drop the soap, Prison, Side Story, Violence, WIP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:40:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22158736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlwaysDayDreaming/pseuds/AlwaysDayDreaming
Summary: A side story occurring after Mera and Mr. Barrier get arrested.  Isolated and have forgotten her own epithet; Mera's motivations are called into question. Without Indus or her family to bail her out, she's forced to confront demons both inside and out while waiting out her sentence. Meanwhile, Indus meets an unsuspected ally and embarks on a mission to save Lady Mera and escape jailtime; but a hidden terror has other plans for the duo. Will Mera Salamin ever overcome her crippling failure? Will Molly ever appear in this story? Will Indus ever drop the soap? There's too much at stake when epithets are... Behind Bars. (That line was as painful to write as it was to read!)
Relationships: Mera Salamin & Indus Tarbella, Molly Blyndeff & Mera Salamin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	1. Behind Bars

Taps of rain speckled the window of Mera’s solitary confinement cell. She stared out of it listlessly; using stacked pillows, comforters, and a bed frame to hold her high up enough to peer through it. The view wasn’t necessarily spectacular, sporting only a dense highway and some trees, but Mera’s eyes showed that she was looking beyond all of it.

She had been in prison for only a week, and yet it felt like months had past. Due to her unnaturally “fragile” constitution, Mera wasn’t able to live amongst the normal prison population. She knew it had something to do with her now forgotten epithet but couldn’t place exactly what it was. Her constantly aching limbs and sudden pains whenever she’d do so much as nudge into another inmate gave her hints of what it could have been, but also left her no choice but to wait out her sentence in solitude.

Although the isolation was enough to drive the average person insane, Mera was no stranger to this way of living. Viewing the outside world from a cell gave her a twisted sense of nostalgia. The sickening sensation made her feel terrified, yet comfortable. Knowing that she felt more at ease being locked away, than she did out exploring the world, brought her more pain than her body ever could. She described it as being a porcelain doll cursed to forever live its life within a glass cage.

Her eyes wandered aimlessly through the grey clouds, pondering what went wrong in the museum.  
“Months of planning shattered within a single night. Guess I should be used to it...” She scoffed. “If it weren’t for that Little girl and her Banzai Babysitter, I’d be living on easy street right now. Not to mention that Little Freudian Nightmare and ‘Mr. Barrier’ holding me back.” 

She rolled her eyes only to notice herself in the reflection of the window. Her face was bitter with annoyance, a reaction she’s had to almost everything since starting her adult life. She sighed deeply before carefully setting herself back onto the frigid ground. “Indus. Knowing him, he’s probably too oblivious to even care that he’s in jail. Bet he’s living it up right about now.” Mera huffed as she began to cradle herself on the oddly comfortable floor. Although Mera would deny it, deep down she felt a shred a guilt. Where it came, she honestly couldn’t tell.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Deep within the walls of Cell block D lies an ancient horror. A wraith said to terrorize both inscribed and mundie alike. It lurks the prison grounds after dark searching for escaping prisoners to abduct, never to be seen or heard from again...”

It was Scary Story night for the Sweet Jazz Correctional Facility Story Time Group. A small team of prisoners were huddled in a circle in a dimly lit janitors closet. A scraggly old man gripped the attention of three other suspect individuals. The flame lingering on the tip of his beard dimly lit the room. 

“On foggy nights, some say you can still hear the sound of his tortured victims calling out from the shadow realm.” 

The most suspect of the three individuals was a lizard like person who folded their arms with disbelief. Their name was Adrian Pozzolan, a slippery self proclaimed “super spy” in for identity theft, grand theft, and worst of all: loitering. They were used to adapting to tight situations, but there was something about the stench of hobo beard vapours that he found hard to stomach. 

The more the rickety man went on, the more Adrian got restless. Their posture slowly melted downwards until they were resting their head on their hands. Eventually, they interrupted. 

“Not that I want to crush your little dreams but... I’m not buying any of this garbage.” 

“Oh, trust me youngin It’s real. You’re new here, so of course you’re not gonna believe it yet. But give it time; you’ll notice the evil lurking within the walls.”

This unnerving old rust bucket was Crusty Halloway, a homeless man who uses the prison system for free housing. Fun Fact: He’s close friends with all of the prison staff. He even knows all their birthdays.

Crusty let out a laugh so hoarse that scraped the ears of his restless audience. “All right. Story times over kids, its lights out in 5 minutes.” 

Crusty sat up, snuffing out his bearded campfire. As if on cue, a CO swung open the janitor’s closet door.

“Alright inmates, recreational time’s over. Scurry off to bed.” She spoke with a mothering tone.

“Awww, can’t we get five more minutes?” One of the other inmates pleaded like an upset child.

“Not this time. We let you stay up the last two times, if this keeps up your sleep schedule will mess up.” The guard scolded.

The two inmates whined as they both stood up to leave. Adrian sat in absolute disbelief; their head slowly twisting towards Crusty.

“Man all this evil sure is suffocating.” they whispered grinning. “At this rate, I won’t even make it back to my cell…” Adrian let out a snicker before heading out with the other prisoners.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Good thing the Sweet Jazz prison system isn’t completely corrupt and doesn’t uses human rights violations as a means to suppress the broad spectrum of prisoners, allowing us to keep our dignity and humanity and develop ourselves in a non sexually charged/exploitative environment that doesn’t promote archaic tribalism that essentially boils down to who’s matching whom in terms of skin tone.” Adrian’s cellmate announced in a whisper.

“Uh, why did you feel the need to say that?” Adrian whispered back.

“Sorry, I sometimes talk to myself to get myself to sleep. It helps drown out the voices in my head.” 

“Okay forget I asked.”

Adrian tossed over in the bunk, awkwardly facing away from their oversharing cellmate. Their attention was focused entirely on the eraser anklet that was practically glued to every inmate’s bodies; inscribed or not. Adrian wanted nothing but to get theirs off so they could have an “early release” from the joint. They studied up on prison escape movies a week prior of their trial just in case they’d enter the real deal. Adrian was certain the situation would be a powder keg.

In order to get rid of an eraser anklet, one needed an electrical current strong enough the short circuit it without killing themselves. And if worst comes to worst, amputation was a final resort; fingers crossed if you had an epithet that could fix it afterwards. Another hurdle was remembering what one’s epithet was, but that wasn’t important as long as they still had the anklet.

Adrian was fiddling with the vile device, searching for any weak spots. Amiss the investigation, a faint noise had arose. A long sorrowful howl could be faintly heard from within the prison. A hair or two had twitched on their neck. 

“Hey, roomy! Do you hear that!?” Adrian yell whispered.

“Hear what? I'm working with a lot right now.”

“Do you hear the weird crying coming from down the halls?”

“Hmm. Yup. Y’know it’s refreshing knowing that someone else can hear it too.”

Adrian didn’t respond. They just lie back; rethinking their plan. If they’d wanted out, they’d had to be completely sure that the noise wasn’t some spooky spirit out for blood.

Adrian waited until the next night to conduct an investigation of the mysterious howls. The plan was called Operation: Weeping Wraith (Trademark Pending). First they needed a way to leave the cell at night, which considering how soft the guards are, should be as easy as store bought Pie.

First, Adrian slipped out of their bunk during lights out and placed themselves right near the cell entrance. When a patrolling guard was close by, Adrian used used a forbidden ninja art: “Dropped Coin!” With crippling reluctance, they forced a penny out of their hand and unto the ground in front of the cell. As expected, the unsuspecting guard took the bait.

“Hey, a penny! Lucky me! At this rate I’ll save enough to fill my baby daughter’s college fund!”

Like a crocodile awaiting their prey, Adrian reached for their homemade razor blade on a stick; syncing up with the guard as they reached for the penny. Growing up in the Sweet Jazz City slums was a cold experience for Adrian. Most compared it to a dog eat dog world, but personally, Adrian felt as though they had to become more reptilian than anything. Being forced to shut off one’s own emotions in order to survive. Be it hot or cold, lukewarm or red hot, straight up boiling or dry ice; they were prepared to adapt to anything in order to keep their way of life. Even if it meant stooping to levels lower than scum.

With dauntless precision Adrian unsheathed the lethal weapon and lept towards the bars. Before the guard could even blink, it was already over.

“Ouch! Who poked my butt!?”

“That would be me Mr. CO.”

“Oh! Hey inmate. I can see you’re new here. If you wanted something feel free to ask. We wouldn’t want you guys feeling neglected.” He spoke with a voice sweet enough to give someone diabetes.

“Err, I just wanted to see if I could use the bathroom?”

“But there’s one inside of your cell.”

“I get claustrophobic pooping in front of others.” Adrian nodded over to their bunk mate who was currently in a riveting and sophisticated conversation by themselves.

“I see. Well if that’s the case inmate, you’re always welcome to use the faculty restroom.” The guard announced rest assured. They even handed Adrian a staff key.

Part one of the operation was an success. Adrian swept over their semi drooping hair and strut down the corridor, pleased with their work.“It was messy, but I like messy.” They thought to themselves as they moved closer towards the source of the bellowing.

“Makes my work a little more enjoyable.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Lady Mera!” Indus howled from his cell. Just about everyone on his block had gone partially deaf from his continuous crying. In order to combat this, everyone was given ear plugs for the time being.

“I failed you! And now you’re out there alone and unprotected by my-” Indus thought for a second, trying to find a missing piece that missing piece within his mind.

It had been like this ever since they were separated at the prison. Every night Indus would cry out in anguish due to his failure as a bodyguard. His very honor had been brought to shambles.

“Hey there buddy…” A mysterious stranger had emerged from the darkness. With quick movements they slipped into the cell and evaded the night patrols.

“I see that you’re having a bad day. Tell me a little about it.” Adrian’s demeanor was chilled, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. They pulled Indus’ boulder sized head onto their lap and gently brushed his hair.

“I-I went to the museum with lady Mera *sniffle* and some guys broke in *snort* and she grabbed the amulet *sniffle* and then the fire alarm went off…”

Indus’ babbling went completely incoherent, but a stroke of empathy within Adrian was more than enough for them to understand.

“There, there. We’ve all been there once. Everyone’s first museum heist can get pretty overwhelming. My first time was also an absolute train wreck, but the important part is that you learn from your mistakes and never give up. And also never trust fire alarms. Yeah, they alert you about fires and junk, but have you ever stopped to consider what they do the rest of the time? They monitoring our privacy, or even worse,: writing weird fan fiction no one will ever read.”

Adrian cradled Indus’ boulder head within their lap. They used a sleeve to casually brush off the lingering tears on Indus’ face. Finally, Indus had calmed down. 

“Thank you kind stranger. I could only dream of having emotional support skills half as good as yours. Maybe then I would be able to repair Lady Mera’s trust in me.” 

“Anytime pal. You learn to deal with an emotional breakdown or two when double crossing someone. Tricks of the trade I guess.”

Adrian’s snake like eyes scanned Indus’ body. All muscle and no brains, every criminal mastermind’s wet dream. The recruitment stage of the plan wasn’t ready yet, but it didn’t hurt to keep tabs open for potential allies.

“Gosh! All this cradling and I don’t even know your name yet, how improper of me!” Adrian remarked with emphatic surprise. 

“Right! My name is Indus Tarbella and my epithet is…” His brain hit a barrier.

“My epithet is… er… currently not available at this time.”

Adrian had been taken back a bit. Indus had only just spoken his own name and already he wants to tell him about his epithet. The amount of trust he had in others was almost sickening.

“Salutations Mr. Tarbella. My name is Adrian Pozzolan, and the pleasure is all mine.” Adrian spoke with false courtesy. They then stood up and gave a hammy bow to Indus, making sure to keep both eyes on the giant who was enraptured by his formality. 

Indus shot up with excitement. “Oh! I’ve made a new friend! Lady Mera is gonna be ecstatic when she sees this.” His eyes lit with new found joy. He was then suddenly struck with a renewed sense of purpose. He was going to make sure he’d make things up to Lady Mera. Wherever she was.

“Okay Indus now that we’re officially ...‘friends’. Let's start by getting to know each other.”

“Sure, that sounds like fun. :D”

“Great... Okay so let's play the Getting To Know Your Friends Game! The rules are simple: I ask you a question and you answer honestly.

“Pfft that’s easy, I’ll definitely win this one!”

“Cool, cool. Okay Question 1: Were you thumped on the head as a child?”

“Hmm, not sure… Next question.”

“Fair enough. Question 2: Who is this Lady Mera that you’ve been screaming about for fucking ever?

“Oh, she’s just my master. I, as her humble bodyguard ,am oath sworn to serve Lady Mera. Long ago she had defeated in battle and It was then my sole purpose to serve her anyway I can.”

“Yeesh, so it's that kind of relationship. This Lady Mera better be worth it; or at the very least pay rent.”

Indus was perplexed by Adrian’s comment. He thought to himself about what Adrian had meant by “relationship.”

“You seem to be mistaken friend Adrian. I'm not in any ‘relationship’ with Lady Mera, I simply serve her as her humble bodyguard. Everyday she teaches me new techniques such as Ironing Mera’s clothes, or Killing the Roach in the Bathroom, or the most important one: “You’re Not Allowed On The Furniture, Not Because I’m Being Mean, But Because You’re Too Big.”

Adrian’s snake eyes peered at him. It was worse they’d imagined. Indus had been but a mere innocent child up until this point. “One could never have fathomed him having kink levels this advanced...” Adrian had thought. “I definitely felt inadequate by comparison. Brainwashing through a skull that thick takes raw talent, even epithets aren’t that good. So this Lady Mera is either a goddess, or a damn good dominatrix.” The answer to this assumption would be disappointing. 

“Anyways... Question 3: Have you’ve experienced or have seen any strange or paranormal activity since you’ve gotten here?”

“Paranormal activity? That’s nonsense! Everyone knows ghosts aren’t real! Everything has mostly been fine and dandy.”

“Finally, someone with some sen-.”

“Except for the random dead bodies.”

“No.”

“Dead serious.”

“I'm not doing this.”

“I'm more than happy to show them to you.”

Adrian’s hairs shot up once more at the sincerity of Indus’ words. Indus didn’t seem like the type to play jokes, or at least jokes this dark. From now on they both had to be on guard. The only thing scarier than a mysterious apparition that could be real, was a silent killer that definitely was.


	2. Barrier is the New Black

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get crazy as Indus and Adrian search for the hidden bodies. Meanwhile, Mera handles her isolation in a completely healthy way. She even made some art. How sublime. Tune in now on Epithet Erased: Barrier is the New Black. Also Adrian is Gender Neutral, mostly since it fits well with their reptile image. (Fun Fact: Some lizards are able to change genders!).

Indus lead the way as Adrian shadowed him. Indus was wearing a pair of bear slippers that Adrian had stolen for him in order to hide the sound of his clomping. The Mildewy halls seemed to wrap around endlessly as they proceeded onward.

On the way, Indus had explained the strange circumstances around how he had discovered the corpses. He was drifting around the cell block crying as per usual, until he had sworn he could hear Lady Mera’s voice calling to him. He had hounded the noise back to a wall within an empty rec room. Upon which he (delicately) obliterated it, only to be met with the dreaded corpses. 

Before he had a chance to get any closer, he remembered one of Lady Mera’s important lessons: “If you ever see a dead body and I’m not there to pick it, RUN! Now get to scrubbing.” And he’s avoided the area ever since.

“Seriously, is there a rest stop between here and that room?” Adrian’s reddish cheeks puffed up with impatience.

“I could have sworn it was around here. Finding one’s way through a building this huge is a bit different than finding one’s way through a desert.”

“Interesting. How’s that?”

“I usually use the night stars to guide me, but none seem to be visible right now. Hmm...”

“Okay this isn’t working. Choosing Magellan of all people as a navigator was my first mistake. We’ll try again tomorrow. Rendezvous with me at the courtyard first thing afternoon. We’ll be meeting next to a dirty old guy. He’s almost always on fire so he’s hard to miss.” 

“Alright friend Adrian. Can we have another sleepover tomorrow night as well?” Indus’ beady begging eyes focused on Adrian.

“If I’m still alive sure.”

The two hastily backtracked towards Indus’ cell. Adrian had just made the connection that Indus’ cell block was cell block D, and immediately a chill shot through them. The seasoned spy’s poise wasn’t stirred, but it was definitely shaken.

After arriving back, Adrian dropped Indus off into his cell. Letting him keep the complementary pair of slippers as a token of appreciation. The trip back to cell block C would be much easier without the extra baggage. Unnerved by the sense of being alone once more, Adrian began to rush. It was a bad habit of theirs, especially when faced with the fear of the unknown.

As Adrian glided through the facility, a twitch of his hairs alerted him of the presence of an unwanted pursuer. Not taking any chances, they had put their hands in a custom stitched inner pocket of their pants. Without any forewarning the spy had spun around and flung a barrage of scavenged razor blades at the stalker. Confident the fight was already decided, Adrian backflipped onto the wall and leapt off like a shrike looking to skewer it’s pray.

Upon meeting up close, the homemade razor stick had been plunged into the opponent’s gut without a second thought. Adrian’s swift hands retracted for another strike, but froze in place upon seeing the face of the unwanted guest.

It was Adrian’s spitting image; right down to every last minute detail. Adrian snapped back into reality and went in for another stab, but there wasn’t any blood. Just a soft thick substance the same coloration as the area that was just shanked. Befuddled, the nimble fighter jumped backwards not knowing what to expect. After a short moment, the thing had responded.

It had drawn the razor blade stick and the razor blades into itself. After a brief gestation period, lumps on lookalike’s body appeared and shot back the razorblades that were thrown at it. With acute reaction skills, Adrian had shielded their face, protecting their eyes. Their arms had stopped the blades aimed at the face, but the rest of the body was still shelled with razors. The cumulative damage was minor, with the blades only dealing ticks of damage. The opponent wasn’t one Adrian could fight, especially not now.

“Tch, I hate mirror matches, pick another character you hack!”

“...”

“As bad as this is, I’ve managed to pinpoint one thing. This must be the work of an enemy epithet user!”

“...”

“Yeah, I know that joke is older than sin. Just wanted to be the one making other people roll their eyes for a change. Anywhose, gotta blast!”

With a heel turn, Adrian made a mad sprint back towards the cell block; knocking over who knows how many guards in a desperate attempt to escape. Eventually they had successfully made it in one piece. Adrian hid the staff key that was obtained into a hole they’d cut out in the side of the bed. Almost immediate they had knocked out.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Well it finally happened; Mera had snapped. In the middle of her solitary confinement unit was an idol made from bed sheets and pillows with a crude face drawn on it with crayola crayons. It was adorned with a crown of styrofoam cups. It was placed in the middle of a poorly drawn hexagram with five plastic utensils placed at the corners. Mera herself had torn the sleeves off her navy blue prison jumpsuit and wore her pants as a headwrap. She had melted crayons and used the wax to etch various latin letters over her arms and face.

“Finally! My portal to the sub dimension is almost ready. Indus! Indus get over here and light the candles!”

She pointed at a pillow with a smiley face that was labeled “Indus”.

“Okay fine, I’ll do it! Keep that attitude and we aren’t stopping at the aquarium!”

She had picked up several red crayons and drew some sick flames around the circle. In her fevered mind she felt a draft pick up. Soon lightning started to form within the ceiling and a wormhole opened up. The room darkened and random objects swirled within the vortex of the portal.

“Yes! My hard work and genius has finally bore fruit. Now come Indus, we shall rule over all!”

“Good job lady Mera! You’re skill and raw talent has saved us once again. Everyone could only dream of being as sophisticated and self aware as you!” Mera had voiced Indus herself.

“Aww, Indus I’m touched. Without your help, I would have never found all eight chaos emeralds and used them to summon the mighty Billie Eilish to help us defeat Dio and his stand Barney the Dinosaur.”

Mera had picked up her Indus stand in and hugged it tightly within her arms; smudging the markings in the process. She then pulled out a belt of grenades and pulled the clips off all of them.

**“I’ve had a _BLAST_ waiting here, but it’s time I _BLOW_ this joint. Mwahahahhahahahahahahahah!”**

She hopped into her portal with Pillow Indus in hand, and the entire building blew up in the background. _The End._

Except it wasn’t the end as Mera was still on the floor in her panties laughing hysterically. She had clutched Pillow Indus in her arms and tears flooded into her eyes.

“I’m free! I’m finally out of this dump! We-”

Mera had stopped to take a breathe. Reality had begun to press onto her again as the weight of the situation had pushed down onto her chest; once again suffocating her. Mera had began hyperventilating.

“Let me out! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!”

She had gotten up and started banging on the door to the SHU. Her hands began to bruise as she put every last ounce of her stamina into each hit. She had devolved into nonsensical screaming. Her tears further smudged the markings on her face. She had been kicking and banging the door for minutes before she would get a response.

“Alright Inmate settle down, we’re getting you out of here. Back away from the door so I can open it.”

Mera heard clanging of locks before the door had opened up. The guard had jumped the moment he laid eyes on her and the mess she made.

“Oh jeez, this isn’t good. We had to get you washed up if you’re going to be visiting your friends.”

Mera began to sniffle.

“Friends? What friends?”

“Some of your friends came to visit you. Now let’s get you cleaned up.”

He guided Mera down a long stretch of hallway. As they walked Mera wondered about what transpired in the SHU. She was scared that prison was turning her into something that she wasn't.

Mera was guided towards to the prison showers. No other inmate was in there at the time, giving her a moment to herself. After splashing her face with cold water she had came back to her senses. Her eyes, hands, and feet were bruised from panicking. All she wanted now was to take a nice warm shower and crawl into her bed at home. Too bad she was still stuck.

Mera stripped down the remainder of her clothes and got to washing herself. As she worked her way down her body, she noticed more and more symbols written over her. She struggled to hold the rag in her hands as she gently scrubbed her arms. She then made her way to her breasts, which were somehow also marked up. Each stroke left her wincing. The more she applied pressure, the more her hands stung. The pain in her bones was also still prevalent, forcing her to proceed even slower. 

After stepping out and drying herself, Mera threw on new clothes and sulked towards the visitation area.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mera had been thoroughly cleaned up, with the exception of her bruised hands and a few broken toes. The bags under her eyes were glaring as she walked into the busy visitation room. Once she saw who was waiting for her, her eyes widened.”

“H-hey… Ugh… Mrs… Ms…Uh...Lady...”

Molly stammered. She failed to find the proper words to greet Mera with. She blundered her words repeatedly, not knowing exactly how to introduce herself. She thought meeting Mera again would be similar to reuniting with a rude customer at the toy store. Unfortunately, that didn’t make things any easier for her.

After a tense moment, Mera pitched in to catch Molly’s failing words.

“Just call me Mera.”

“Oh. Alright. Hi. Mera.”

Molly’s forced greeting didn’t help with the mood. Mera sat in front of her bewildered. She wasn’t expecting this at all.

“So. Why exactly are you visiting me?”

“Oh! Good question! I just wanted to… see if you’re okay!”

Mera placed her fingers on her temple. She thought for a bit about whether or not going postal in the SHU would be better than this.

“Listen kid.”

“My name’s Molly.”

“...Listen Molly. I just spent the last hour kicking and screaming in a solitary confinement unit, trying to build an imaginary portal to an imaginary universe, so I wouldn’t have to be stuck in this hell hole for another torturous second. At this point, I’m just glad to be sitting in front of another human being.”

Molly wasn’t even going to attempt dissecting that little nugget of information.

“Wow. That sounds horrible.”

“Oh no, horrible doesn’t even begin to describe it. And even worse, I am in constant pain and I don’t even know why!”

“Umm, It’s because of your epithet…?”

Mera’s eyes peered at Molly. She had suddenly remembered Molly’s ability to numb pain. For a moment, Mera was hesitant to ask. Molly did say that she wouldn’t mind helping her in the future, but Mera wasn’t comfortable asking a little girl for help.

“Hey, Molly. Do you mind using your epithet again? To dumb down the pain?” Mera spoke softer than usual.

“Of course. I’d be happy to.” Molly smiled as the tension began to die down a bit. With a glow of Molly’s hands, Mera had begun to feel tranquil. The inner silence of her body was liberating and her mind stabilized once more. Her eyes watered with satisfaction as she completely forgot how good it felt the first time.

“I really needed that. Thanks kid.”

“Don’t mention it, helping people is my day and night job.”

“Wait, how’d you get here anyway. Do they just allow children to waltz into the prison?”

“No I just asked my my cop friend Percy to take me. I told her it would be a good way to cleanse my bad guy corruption so that she’d actually take me. She’s over there in the corner arguing with the guards about the proper way to clean a building.”

Percy could be seen with a pair of rubber gloves and some wet wipes. She was giving the prison janitors a TED talk on how to properly disinfect various fabrics and surfaces. There was a miniature house erected in the middle of the room being used as teaching aid.

“Not all heroes wear capes.” Mera laughed a bit to herself. “Anyway, why did you want to check up on me anyway. I tried stealing your epithet, you should be hating me right now.”

“Water under the bridge, I deal with irritating grown ups all the time.” Molly’s eye twitched. “Before, at the museum. I was actually ready to give up my epithet. I felt worthless and thought ‘Why not. she’ll probably use it better than me’. I was so attuned to letting people like my dad walk all over me, that I forgot that I also needed help. I didn’t see the value in myself; not until I met my friend Giovanni. He showed me that I was also a person, and that It wasn’t okay to let people push me around like a slave. If it weren't for him, I would've never had the courage to stand up for myself. I wanted to try and pass that kindness on so that someone else could feel good for once. Someone like you.”

Mera’s shattered eyes were fixated on Molly. Her mouth was slightly ajar. Some say that her heart grew ten sizes that day, as this wholesome girl’s words had blown her away. Mera had taken from others constantly. Hell, Indus was practically her slave. And because of that, she failed to realize that she was no different from everyone else, that her pain was no excuse to trample over others to get what she wanted. Although she wasn’t done trying to cure the damages made to her body, Mera decided on taking a different approach from now on.

“Oh and hanging out with criminals gives me mad street cred. Everyone at school thinks I’m cool now, so that’s neat.” Molly’s face brightened up.

“Well, they aren’t wrong.” Mera smiled a bit as well. It was comforting to know that things do get better. Eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hungry :(


	3. Fragile Custody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unwanted guest lurks within the vents as Mera makes her way back towards to confinement cell. Indus and Adrian confront and old friend on for some unanswered questions. Will our heroes manage to fight off the evil from within? Find out this week on Epithet Erased: Fragile Custody! Also, I've been working on an erotic fanfic involving ZoraPercy; so that might drop soon. Idk when but I've already gotten a good portion already written. Innocent/Corrupt ships are my kryptonite. If anyone guesses Adrian's epithet, I'll include Ramsey in the ZoraPercy fic. Always room for a threesome. :P

Tall shadows were cast over the walls as noon settled over the prison. Mera and Molly had spoken for roughly two hours before visitation ended. Their conversations were pleasant, dragging on about the stresses of life. They exchanged useful life tips and talked about the latest trends that had passed while Mera was confined. Before they had to part, sprinkles of their contrasting personalities had brushed off on one another.

As Mera was headed back to her hole, she’d examined the card Molly had given her. It was Sylvie’s professional card. Mera wouldn’t be caught dead consulting a him as a therapist, but she appreciated the thought. She was now content that she’d talked to someone besides herself. Going back into the SHU would still be a challenge for her, but at least she had the pick-me-up.

The two guards escorting her were bickering over something Mera couldn’t be bothered to care about. Molly’s epithet effects were relaxing enough for her to completely drown out the world around her.

In the middle of their walk, a faint rattling began to sound in one of the prison vents. The sound began to grow louder and more prominent the closer it got to Mera’s location. Once she had noticed it, she began searching around the hall for the source of the noise.

“Is that a rat? Please tell that’s just a rat.” Mera’s mind began flooding with wild goose thoughts. “What were the odds of a wild duck making its way into the facility? Probably none, right?” Sweat began to form on her forehead.

“Eh. Sounds a bit more like a really fat cat.” the female guard pitched in.

“No, cats make SCRATCHING noises when they crawl through vents **BRENDA**!” The male guard chided.

“Well SORRY not EVERYONE has to be an expert on **VENTILATION VOYAGING VERMIN!** ” The female guard began shouting.

Mera’s nerves began pulsing with the constant shouting. Eventually the random rummaging in the vents would reach them. As it was right above the group; it stopped. Silence had filled the air as everyone stared up into the vent.

“See Brenda? This is why we always lose on trivia night. You never dedicate ONE MOMENT to studying up on animal sound effects!”

“Wow, way to blame the one person actually TRYING to have fun! Have you ever stopped to consider that other people have lives to live?!”

“What life? You’re a prison guard! All you do is babysit grown women, go home, and listen to music. You’re not exactly inventing the wheel there!”

“ **CAN WE FOCUS!?”** Mera had broken up their bickering.

With a sharp creak, an enormous blob emerged from the vent and crashed onto the floor. A smokescreen of lingering dust erupted from the impact and concealed it’s shifting form. Mera instinctively took a step back as both guards lingered in place. 

The dust cloud settled. The once formless blob had shaped into something more disturbing. A hulking one eyed centaur stood in front of them.

“Fuck my life...” Mera groaned as she face palmed.

The guards assumed fighting positions. The dance between life and death was once more about to unfold. Mera on instinct ran further down the corridor to find safety.

“Hey Nigel, you were right.” Brenda admitted. “I wasn’t taking the trivia nights seriously. They meant a lot to you and I failed to realize that. I just wanted us to spend some quality time together OUTSIDE of work. But you did get one thing wrong...”

She dug her hand into her trousers and pulled out a deck of science flash cards. Her body began to glow velvet as she drew one from the deck.

“I wasn’t just listening to music. Instead I was studying for a different kind of trivia. Did you know that velociraptors have feathers!?” On queue, a velociraptor was summoned from the card and landed before them. Brenda’s Epithet was flashcard: She could summon objects and animals by reading various facts about them.

“That is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! Now let's show this one eyed freak how we do it in Sweet Jazz Correctional Facility!” Nigel roared. The zeal in their eyes flared as they approached the monster for an epic encounter. They’ve trained their entire lives for this moment. Everyday up until now had been a test. Today was the day they faced the real deal.

Brenda rode on top of the velociraptor; equipped with her electric staff. Together they leapt towards the creature’s girthy neck. The dino had sunk it’s large teeth into it, causing it to flail around in an attempt to shake them off. Brenda had then climbed onto it’s back and jabbed it with the electrified spear. No effect.

Niegel offered them support by shooting at the creature’s eyes with his rifle. The monster flailed and swung its weight around the hallway; bashing into walls. Despite it’s ravenous fit, no sound had emerged from it. After stabbing the beast several times, Brenda had noticed that her attacks weren’t working. The electric currents were nullified by its rock solid hide. Every wound made had instantly closed up again.

Eventually, the centaur managed to pry the velociraptor off it’s neck. It lifted the dino overhead before tossing it at Nigel. It was a direct hit, sending the two sliding across the floor. The velociraptor had dissipated from the impact. Brenda reached once more into her deck of flash cards and pulled out another one.

“Did you know that the chainsaw was originally used to aid in childbirth!?” A chainsaw was summoned into her hands. Before the monster could grab her off, she revved up her new weapon and sliced off one of it’s hands. “Alright big boy, let’s ride.” She jabbed the weapon into the base of the monster’s spine. The creature’s body vibrated as Brenda dragged the saw upwards, splitting it’s human-like torso in half.

Brenda flipped off the back of the monster as it went stiff and slumped over onto the ground. The color of its body grayed, and it completely stiffened.

“Nigel! Are you okay!?” Brenda ran over to her mate and flipped him over. There was a gash in his forehead and blood flooded all over his uniform. He was out cold from the devastating impact.

“We’ll get you to the infirmary, don’t worry. We’re safe now.”

As she lifted one of his arms over her shoulder to hoist him up, a silent shifting began in the background. Brenda, ignorant of the noise, began helping him down the hall. The ground beneath them began to vibrate and Brenda was once again alert of the thing’s presence. As she turned around, a tentacle shot towards her. She was grabbed by the neck as flung onto the wall. The centaur had morphed into a giant squid. 

Brenda used the chainsaw to hack herself free. Staggered by it’s attack, Brenda struggled to get back onto her feet and retaliate. More tentacles arose from the monster’s newly sculpted body and prepared their onslaught. Between winces of pain Brenda prepared more flash cards and readied herself. Soon enough, they were upon her.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh CRAP!” Mera had been running aimlessly through the facility. She wasn’t taking any chances with the beast eventually catching up to her. She had found her way into a random rec room and hid inside one of the empty cabinets. She wedged her petite body into one of the shelves and waited.

“I hate prison! I hate not having my epithet! I hate random vent demons! I hate my life! UGH!” Mera was having yet another panic attack. “Where did they send me anyway? Hogwarts!? Did I room next to the god damn _crypt keeper_!? What the hell even was that thing!?”

She was starting to get a headache. She never thought she would ever find herself missing her own epithet, which Molly had informed her of earlier. A couple minutes passed before she could hear the door slowly creek open. Her body locked in place from fear. 

She could hear gross slappy footsteps lurking around the room. It made its way past the cabinet and stopped in front of a wall. As if it could smell her fear, its face cracked open and formed a crude excuse for a mouth. 

“Little Miss. I know you’re around here. Wherever you are. I hope you know. These filth. Can’t save you. I came here. So I can get. My **revenge**.” It had spat out the two corpses of the guards who fought valiantly to stop it. 

Mera held back a gasp as she heard their bodies make impact with the tile. She had no clue what it meant by “revenge”. 

“You. Bliss ocean types. You preach so much. About helping the powerless. But how does it feel. Knowing that. **No one**. Will help. You.” Its low growl grew quieter as it trailed back out of the room. 

Once Mera was completely sure it had left, she crawled out of her cubby. As she recollected herself, she stood above the two bodies. They were mangled, beaten, and rendered almost unrecognizable. Her eyes strained just looking at them. She reached down to take their keys and IDs. Out of respect she held a moment of silence for the fallen guards. 

“D-” 

**BANG!**

A loud slamming against the wall interrupted her. 

Mera rushed her prayer and ran off into the facility. She wasn’t sticking around to see which lovecraftian horror would emerge next. 

After a couple more slams a teary eyed Indus had broken through. 

“Lady Mera! Are you in here? Hello…” His face winced at the sight of the two dead bodies… 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

A glimmer of morning light caressed the edges of Indus’ face, beckoning him to wake up. His eyes slowly blinked open as his body slowly regained consciousness. He leapt off the bed and began to stretch his arms. It would be a couple more minutes before the cell block would open up once more. His cellmates were out cold due to it being the first night Indus went without crying. 

Indus performed his morning exercises while waiting for the cell to open. Once it did, he hastily made his way to the prison showers to wash up. Due to his large hands, the bummy prison soap kept slipping out of his hands. He was fumbling with it for a while before it landed on the ground. As he bent down to pick it up, a large, muscular, black man lingered closely behind him. Although Sweet Jazz Correctional Facility was chock full of generally blind guards, the same could not be said about the prisoners. Before Indus’ could sense the larger man’s approach, it had happened. 

“I couldn’t help but notice you having a little trouble. Here, use my Old Spice Body Wash. Men need skin care too.” The larger inmate handed Indus a full container. Indus gladly accepted the gift and tossed the other bar of soap across the showers; accidentally nailing someone in the head. Indus began lathering the slick gel onto his muscular body. He was now able to wash himself more efficiently and smell good doing so. 

After his morning shower, Indus made a beeline towards breakfast and scarfed down as much food as he can acquire. Once finished, he tried searching for the old rec room that he had discovered earlier so he could resume investigating. The prison corridors were maze like, but there were only so many unused recreational rooms with large holes in their walls. There was a chance one of the staff had a building epithet and closed up the hole, but there were strangely no announcements or even comments made by anyone about finding any corpses. 

Eventually the courtyard had opened and Indus was forced to postpone the search for later. Indus rendezvoused at the extraction point near Crusty. Once he got there he could hear someone calling to him from the distance. 

“Hey Indus! Hey Old man! I missed you guys so much!” Adrian could be seen emerging from the cell block C double doors. Their prison outfit had been noticeably changed from a yellow jumpsuit to a green one. Once they caught up to the two, their mouth grinned widely. 

“Pardon my tardiness, I had to get new clothes from the clinic. My old ones got a bit shredded from a bit rough housing. These other inmates can act so tough sometimes. Real _posers_ I tell you.” Adrian’s pupils turned elliptical as they eyed down Crusty. The old man was busy shaking the ashes off his beard while reading an old train magazine. 

“Good afternoon friend Adrian. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the roo-.” 

“Oh no, it’s fine. No need. I discovered something way more important anyways.” Adrian’s agitation was beginning to reveal itself as they cut off Indus. “Say old man, I wanted to thank you for the riveting story the other night. Absolutely _breathtaking_. Really _cut_ to the point.” 

“No need for compliments. Just doing my duties as Story Time Club Founder.” Crusty humbly waved off Adrian’s remarks. 

“Nonsense... You were so great! I tip my hat to you. You sly silver devil.” Adrian’s fingers snapped and launched a coin through the air. Once it landed, Crusty fixed his attention towards it. 

“Youngin’, you dropped somethin- **GAH!** ” 

Adrian utilized the distraction to sweep Crusty’s legs. As the old man crashed onto the floor, Adrian drew several razors and pointed them directly at elder’s neck. 

“Friend Adrian!? It is honor-less to beat up sweet innocent old people!” Indus scolded. 

“Well this little mouse tried killing me last night! Also: **WE’RE IN PRISON! NO ONE HERE IS INNOCENT YOU OX!** ” 

“I didn’t try killing anyone! I don’t know what you kids are smoking nowadays because I was nowhere near your cell block! Cell block C is for alternative lifestyle inmates, they won’t even let me near there!” Crusty pleaded; flakes of ash erupting from his beard as he trembled. 

“Oh yeah, because you were so subtle saying shit like ‘Beware the walls, evil lurks inside every cereal box!’ Cut the crap. Either you tried killing me or you know who did, so fess up!” 

Crusty’s eyes widened before peering around the prison yard. He cleared his throat and eyed a secluded corner out of sight from most inmates, guards, and cameras. Adrian lifted Crusty up and propped a makeshift shiv against his back. The three then scuttled into the corner.

“Look here wee ones. I have nothing to do with whoever's trying to kill you. Truth be told, I was just trying to spook you out earlier. I can definitely help you find this person that you’re looking for. In exchange for my life of course.” Crusty begged.

Adrian was skeptical. “Okay, then riddle me this. Do you know anyone with an epithet that can create clones. Clones that get all droopy when you stab them a couple times?”

“Hmm. The only people here that can use their epithet are the COs. Some of them I know have summoning epithets. Have you told any of them your measurements, or given out weird facts about yourself, or signed up for any timeshares recently?”

“Naw, I don’t talk to the fuzz. I also doubt that it was a summon. I went to town on that thing and nothing happened. It had to be some sort of construct.”

“Construct... Construct... Con… struct.... struct-con…con, con, con… struct.” Crusty was vocalizing a weird thinking chant. Indus’ ears perked up and he also pitched in.

“Construct, struct struct. Structcon, con con…” They harmonized together. Adrian began to scat while waiting, bringing the beat together. Before their little acapella group could take off, Crusty had finished thinking.

“Wait… who were you people before you came here?”

“My name is Indus Tarbella and I am a bodyguard for Lady Mera!” Indus announced distinctively.

“Does this question actually have anything to do with my attacker or are you just being nosy?” Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

“Both.” Crusty answered honestly.

“Kay. My legal name is Pallas ‘Adrian’ Pozzolan. I’m a professional spy who is currently on vacation. I only turned myself in just to see how fast I could break out; so imagine my shock when a rude rapscallion tries to ruin my romantic prison rescue.”

“Don’t spies have a lot of enemies? Maybe one of them is out for revenge.” Indus proposed.

“Naw. I usually kill them all. Nothing personal, just protocol. My organization itself has many enemies, but no one is dumb enough to target us. My big sis alone can wipe out entire armies with the wave of her finger. It’s impossible to find someone willing to fight us when we annihilate people before they can become a challenge.” Adrian sounded almost disappointed when speaking. The troublemaker’s pupils flattened with boredom.

“What’s this organization called?” Crusty’s tone was getting more serious.

“If I tell you… I’ll be forced to kill you. Just kidding, I was employed by Bliss Ocean. They pay well but their insurance benefits are hot garbage.”

Crusty’s eyes widened at the revelation. He had the perfect suspect in his mind. Not a lot of people were particularly fans of Bliss Ocean members; even the people who lauded them as civil rights activists feared them. But Crusty knew someone that worked within the prison seemed dumb and crazy enough to target one of it’s members.

“The man you might be looking for is Mr. Kaolin, one of the camera monitors. Very patriotic when it comes to radical groups. commonly described as off his meds. Rarely anyone sees or talks to him, so I can’t tell you much else.” Crusty shrugged..

“Friend Adrian. Could it be that he’s the one who killed those people?” Indus became upset at the thought.

“Most likely. Well Indus, I guess Operation: Catch the Lingering Asshole Yankee has commenced. And if he wants to play hide and seek with his itty bitty cameras, then we’ll just have to play along. Phase one: We must locate this rat by-”

“He's in the office right above where the commissary is. Can’t miss it.” Crusty enlightened the two.

“Okay thanks! Phase 2: We must find out a way to retrieve our epithets by-”

“Just get one of the guard’s electric staves and taze the bejeebers out of it. Hurts like hell, but it works.” Crusty interrupted. Again.

Adrian let out a deep sigh. “Crusty, work with me here. This isn’t fun if you just give me all the answers.”

“Woops. Okay I’ll shut up now.” Crusty receded.

“Preesh. Phase 3: get-”

“Oh! We also have to rescue Lady Mera! That ones really important. Can you make that one phase one?”

“Screw it, we’re freeballing now.” Adrian hissed.  
The annoyed inmate led Indus towards the middle of the courtyard. Crusty watched from a distance as the duo walked up to the most dangerous gang in the entire facility. The Luchadores.

Adrian whispered a command into Indus’ ear as they approached. Indus gave Adrian a concerned look before nodding. Silently, Adrian tapped on the largest one’s shoulder. As the large man’s head began to turn, Indus approached from the other side and proceeded to suplex the luchador with **immense** force. Rubble erupted from the ground as the wrestler’s entire upper body was rooted into the cement. The entire courtyard grew silent while the rest of the luchadores gawked at the sudden assault. 

Adrian approached the exposed lower half of the rooted wrestler and rested his foot on top of it. A wicked smirk etched onto their face as they eyed down the shocked band of masked fighters. 

“What are you clowns waiting for? Are we fighting or what?”


	4. Lockdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get heated up when as an all out duel breaks out of control. A familiar face is spotted perusing the crowd as things spiral out of control. Will Indus and Adrian end up on top, or will a mysterious stranger put an end to their escape plan. Find out this week on Epithet Erased: Lockdown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy ducking shrimp this took me a while to put out. Got caught up in studies and junk. Now I have to write more of the "other" EE fanfic that I started. (Almost finished, almost... ;-;). I might also go back and edit some titles in. Why? Because I can, and I love me some dumb titles.

“Hey big sis’, do you think I should go back to school?”

Adrian was lazing atop a police car that they had stolen. It was the week before they were incarcerated. The car was parked on the roof of an abandoned cement factory and they spoke to their “big sis” through a Nokia flip phone that they'd also stolen.

“Say ‘big sis’ one more time and I’m hanging up…” A gruff feminine voice responded from the other end of the line.

“I mean, I have the money. Not sure I have the commitment though.” Adrian ignored them and continued.

“The hell's gotten into you? What, is your ‘super spy’ thing not working out?” Adrian could hear her eyes rolling through the receiver. “Thought you said you were above that stuff anyways.”

Police sirens could be heard in the distance on Adrian’s end of the call. “Yeah but, it was a different time. I was young, broke, and desperate.” Adrian began looking out into the sky as the call had gone silent for a few seconds. The female responded with a nettled tone. “... but that was last week”

“Yeah yeah. But don’t you think it’s a teensie weensie bit hypocritical for us to **use** our epithets to make a living, all whilst advocating against them? Like, pardon my soap box, but I can’t get into the mindset of “epithet bad” if I’m encouraged to abuse mine on the daily. Plus my spy work on the side is starting to feel kinda meh, y’know? There’s no suspense in sneaking around when you’re practically unbeatable. The only person who’s able to fulfill me is you big sis.” Adrian’s tone began to grow dulled.

“Y’know I should’ve hung up by now, but you’ve got a point.” The crackling of a campfire echoed in her background. 

“Listen here Pallas. Using epithets does seem a bit unfair given the message, but that’s the point. We use our epithets to show people how unbalanced the world has become; you of all people should know that. And I’m with you 100 percent on them making things piss easy, but bear with it. One day, you’ll find a real challenge out there. Someone to test you, someone who will push your limits, someone who will meet you mono y mono and refuse to back down. And once you do you’ll feel the true heat of cold steel against cold steel. And trust me; **It’ll all be worth it.** Just you wait.”

Her passion permeated the chilled air and caused Adrian’s cheeks to flush a bright red. Adrian was once more astonished by their boss’ ambition. The police sirens grew louder. They looked up towards the clouds. 

“Tsk, of course _you_ would say something like that big sis. For someone so immature, I’m surprised you haven’t gotten yourself killed by now. Yet another reason why I want to go to college. I need to be around civilized individuals. Not random homeless chicks.” Adrian teased her. A deep growl could be heard from the other end as Adrian's hairs began to perk up.

“Anyways, I'm cashing in all my vacation days. My ride’s almost here. Thanks for the chat _bye~_.” Adrian quickly hung up the phone before they got an ear load. A light show of cop cars approached from the distance; their sirens deafening the evening air.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back in the present, a brawl was about to commence. A grand wrestling ring was erected in the middle of the courtyard and the prison population surrounded it. There was cheering from all sides as Indus and Adrian stepped into the ring.

“Wow, I’ve never had this many people cheering for me before! Do you think we’ll be on TV? Maybe lady Mera can see us!” Indus zipped his head back and forth scanning the crowd for his lady.

“You can look for her once the fight is over, but I doubt you’ll be able to find her on the men's side of-”

Adrian was cut off by a loud announcer.

“Thugs and thugettes, mundies and inscribed, welcome to the 31st SJCF Lucha Libre!”

Adrian looked around the yard to see where the disembodied voice was coming from.

“In the left corner, we have two newcomers fresh off the transit bus. Give it up for impenetrable ‘Mr. Barrier’ and the _TREACHEROUS_... **‘Snake’**...!” Adrian lifted an eyebrow at the guttural emphasis of their pseudonym. The duo was met with a mixed bag of cheers and boos.

Just then, two robed figures entered the ring. One was so small that their vibrant robe had completely shrouded their figure. The other was so large that their robe struggled to squeeze on.

“And… in the right corner, we have two seasoned veterans and long time champions. Give a warm welcome to our beloved ‘El Tiburón’ and ‘El Misterio’.” The crowd went wild before the announcer had even. Howls and whistles were blown as origami roses were thrown onto their side of the ring.

Adrian assessed the situation. They wanted to fight the stronger of their two opponents, but had trouble discerning which one that was. Indus firmly placed his hand on Adrian’s shoulder and stepped forward. “I go up first. The faster I finish my opponent, the sooner I can search for Lady Mera.” He was dead set with his decision, prompting Adrian to wait on the outside. The stalwart bodyguard made his way to the middle of the ring, where he was met with a similarly large opponent.

As Indus stepped forward, so did El Tiburón. The wrestler wore a deep blue shark mask with a decorative dorsal fin sticking out the back. Indus wanted to compliment the impressive attire, but respected the silence between him and his foe. Before they could start, Crusty slid onto the ring wearing his official referee outfit. He stood up and explained the deep and antiquated rules of prison Lucha Libre.

“There are none! Fight!”

El Tiburón assumed a battle stance and launched forward at Mr.Barrier. On instinct, he charged back and the two began to clash. Indus threw out several unsuspected blows, which his opponent ate without flinching. The wrestler pushed through and proceeded to grasp Indus by the waist. The crowd watched up in awe as the professional effortlessly hoisted Mr. Barrier above himself. Indus squirmed as El Tiburón’s iron grasp dug into his body. With a trembling of the ring, the masked beast knelt down and proceeded to launch them both into the sky.

Once they had reached critical height, El Tiburón pulled Indus downwards with him and slammed the newcomer onto the mat. A tremor erupted within the courtyard, rippling the crowd. Adrian wasn't phased by the quaking, and was amused to see their acquaintance in action.

“Hey Indus! I know this isn’t the right time, but do you think I could get one of these masks!?” Adrian shouted from the ring side. Indus muffled words in response as he lay completely still. As the other contender reached down to grasp Indus’ arm, the battered man twisted around and spat blood onto the other’s eyes. The wrestler had flinched. With the use of his legs, Mr. Barrier snatched his opponent by the neck and flipped him across them across the ring.

Indus stumbled onto his feet; his broken nose and swollen eye were then revealed to the crowd. Triumphant cheers were thrown his way as he shrugged off the devastating attack. Even Adrian felt a bit of excitement for their new associate. 

Mr. Barrier wobbled a bit from the impact, but ultimately stood his ground. He decided to saunter over to the ring side to consult with his partner. Adrian jumped onto the ropes to get closer. The battered man tilted his head upwards and spoke in a nasally voice.

“It appears close combat will be an issue.” Adrian tore off a piece of their prison jumpsuit to clean off most of the blood. “Not like you could keep your distance, this ring isn’t big enough for two Goliaths. Here, let me fix that for you...” In an instant, Adrian had snapped his nose back in place. Indus let out a howl as he bit down on the reddened piece of cloth. “Nice, get it all out. I’ll be out in the crowd trying to get this anklet off. Be a good sport and don’t die, ‘kay?” Adrian’s voice drowned out as they faded into the crowd.

Mr. Barrier turned around to see the shark preparing a charge from the other side of the ring. They hurled themselves top speed at Indus. Each stomp shattered the ground as they approached, throwing off Indus’ balance. As the man drew closer, Indus held his breath and leaned his head back. A long thud echoed the ring as Indus landed a headbutt. The predator stumbled backwards onto his rear, while the defender stood his ground. The battle was far from over.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, Adrian skulked the hoard of inmates. A gaggle of guards were chaperoning the event from a distance. The criminal’s eyes fixated on the electric staves hoisted on their belts. Adrian gulped as they viewed the jagged tips. The staves were designed to quickly incapacitate inmates in a single jolt without deactivating their anklets. There was no telling what would happen if they were to tamper with one and test it on themselves. There was a moment of hesitation to reconsider their hastey plan, but Adrian thought of Indus and how much he was sacrificing in order to complete the mission. There was no way he’d let an amateur outshine them on their own mission.

Adrian pulled their shirt over their face before exiting the crowd. With a sharp inhale, they began shouting out to the patrolling guards. “Hey, look over here! I want to show you something! Look at me! It’s really cool! Hey!” The group of guards all turned their heads face noise. They all displayed varying levels of confusion as the mischievous individual began digging around in their pants. Two shivs were pulled out and Adrian proceeded to cut down two adjacent prisoners before diving back into the crowd. Startled, the bulk of the group began to chase the neer-do-well through the crowd.

Adrian made their way through the ocean of inmates, knocking over and cutting as many as possible. The guards followed the trail of unrest and irritation. They tried defusing the festering mob, but Adrian proved to be too elusive for them to keep up with. Soon anger and agitation rippled through the spectators as rumor of a masked lunatic began spreading.

The mass of restless bodies made blending in easier for the cold blooded crook. He prowled the mob for any unsuspecting guard and soon found his mark. He noticed a strange pale CO keeping their distance at the edge of the crowd. They had long blue hair and a “mustache”. Their uniform was tattered despite them not entering the crowd yet, and their frame was notably smaller than the average officer.

Adrian knew a miracle when they saw one. They crept closer and closer to the unsuspecting person before darting behind them. Adrian held a shiv to their neck. The individual gritted their teeth as the tip of the blade was gently placed against their skin. Once Adrian had caught their prey, they began with their demands.

“Hey there. Couldn’t happen to notice your _quaint_ little device, and I just needed to have it. I’ll trade ya. Your life, for the stick. Will that work?”

The individual sucked their teeth before gripping onto Adrian’s upper thigh. Adrian blushed at the sudden advance, but then a sharp pain shot through their leg as it began to cramp. Soon the inmate fell to the ground and began yelling obscenities. “Argh, that was my good leg you blueberry bi-”. The guard had pressed the edge of the stave onto Adrian’s chest and triggered it. Adrian gasped and closed their eyes so that the shock wouldn’t send them flying out of their sockets. Luckily, nothing happened.

“What?” The person began mashing the button in an attempt to get it to work. “Ugh, that’s the second time today…” The person fumbled around with the device as Adrian made themselves comfortable on the ground. “How do you suck at the **one** good part of your job?” The ruffian laughed.

“Yeah well, I’m not the one laying flat on my ass now am I?” The woman remarked just as the stave had completely crumbled in her hands. “Whatever, I already learned my lesson about wasting time conversing with lowlives.” Adrian’s cheeks puffed up at her offhand remark.

“Lowlives? At least I know what a disguise is. You didn’t even try, your mustache is literally clashing with your hair right now. Get yourself together girl.” Adrian’s words hit her like hot knives. That fake mustache cost her thirteen dollars. She took it off and revealed herself as Mera. Adrian mouthed the words "thank you" and gave her a thumbs up.

“So what brings you to this fine prison establishment stranger? Is it revenge, escape, love?” Adrian laid sideways and gestured towards the chaos transpiring behind them. She pulled up her sunglasses to get a better view of the madness. “I’m uh… looking for a guy.” Adrian's shifted closer towards her with interest. “Well why didn’t you say so? Here at Sweet Jazz Corrections Facility we offer only the finest breed of men. We have big guys, small guys, amputees, skinheads, old guys...” Adrian’s list went on. Mera rolled her eyes and clarified herself. “No, I’m looking for **a** guy named Indus. He’s buff, dumb, and likes barriers. Do you know him or not?”

Adrian pointed to the wrestling ring where Indus was having his grudge match. “We have an Indus, but he’s taken. He’s dedicated to this sick dominatrix named ‘Lady Mera’. Sounds like some hardcore stuff too. Care to see our Spring arrival catalog instead?”

“W-what?” Mera was discombobulated by the idea of her being a dominatrix. “ **I’m** Mera!” She desperately spat out. Adrian sized her up and down. “You’re much shorter than I imagined.” Adrian sat up and offered a hand to Mera. “Good afternoon, my name is Adrian Pozzolan: professional spy and good friend of Indus Tarbella. Pleasure is all mine.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A deafening crash echoed through the courtyard. The crowd hushed as silence filled the ravaged ring. The air had become rich with the scent of blood. In the middle of the ring lay a decimated fighter, completely drained of stamina. Above them stood Indus, nearly reaching his limit. “The match has been decided. I am victorious.”

Mr. Barrier stood solemnly; his outfit completely destroyed, save for a few modest shreds of clothe. Bruises lined his body and his face was badly swollen. He took his time absorbing the hard fought battle. The man nearly collapsed to his knees as he moved towards the KO'd wrestler. 

“You were a worthy opponent, shark person. But no offense is stronger than my…” Indus thought for a moment, forgetting the words that would have usually popped into his head by now. “... resolve.”

“Well done!” Adrian yelled as they leapt over the ropes. “So how did it feel? Was it fun? Did any of your stats go up?” They poked Indus’ massive shoulder as they waited for a response. “It was a valiant fight. And I think I may have gained more stamina?” Indus answered uncertain of himself. Adrian gave him a stern thumbs up.

“Satisfactory work. I wasn’t able to get the anklet off, but I did manage to find that Mera chick.” Indus darted his head towards the outer side of the ring where Mera gave him a slight wave. The bodyguard erupted off the ground and dived into the crowd. Screams were heard as he landed, already in a begging position.

“Forgive me! I should have found you sooner. I’m a terri-” Indus was cut off as Mera shoved a pear into his mouth. Mera spoke warmly as she got down to his level. "Shut up Indus." Indus scarfed down the fruit, and Mera hand fed him another. Indus looked towards her, confused as to why she wasn’t upset. Mera avoided eye contact as she knelt beside him. She held a faint smile as she continued feeding him.

“I’m not mad at you Indus, but you’re no use to anyone without your stamina. Now eat up.” Indus felt Mera's voice like a warm blanket. Something about her had changed. “Lady Mera, you seem different today. Did you get a new haircut?” He asked. 

“No Indus, I just changed outfits.” The man perked up and became his usual enthusiastic self. “Wow, you’ve been promoted from a prisoner to a guard!? Can you promote me as well, Lady Mera?”

“We don’t have time for nepotism Indus, I’m breaking us out of here.”

“But… won’t you lose your job?”

“Indus, I don’t actually work here! It’s just a disguise! Now get up and let’s go!” Mera snapped. Indus thought for a moment and then shook his head. “I don’t want to.” Mera almost flinched. “What? Why?” She stammered as Indus continued to shake his head. “It is because me and friend Adrian are currently in a duel. It would be dishonorable of me to leave them behind, so I must stay.” Mera wanted to chide Indus, but she remembered how close she came to abandoning him at the museum, and how poorly it’d turned out for them.

Mera let out a heavy sigh, that eventually turned into senseless yelling. “Okay, fine, whatever! Do your dumb wrestling thing. Just hurry up.” She grumbled. Indus jumped up and thanked her for her compliance. He wasn’t expecting her to actually say yes. “We won’t let you down mistress, I promise!” Mr. Barrier announced. Mera responded with a measly thumbs up as she rested her eyes.

Adrian waited patiently in the ring. They filed their nails as the other cloaked contender crawled onto the mat. Adrian’s eyes flashed up to look at them, but then darted back. Their opponent El Misterio began shifting beneath the robes. Weird sloshing noises came from beneath their robe, as everyone looked on in disturbed silence. Adrian turned around to Indus and Mera to make sure they were also seeing it. Soon, something emerged from beneath the cloth.

A ginormous entity grew instantly before their eyes. It had the head of a cyclops, the torso of a man, the arms of an ape, the tentacles of a squid, and the wings of a dragon. Adrian snickered to themselves and turned around to leave the ring. **“Nope...”**

A large tentacle shot forward and barely missed the spy as they dodged out of the ring. The entire crowd turned disarray as the herd began speeding towards the prison. Indus grabbed Mera and tossed her onto his back before bolting off as well. The trio ran without looking back, but the loud avalanche of debris let them know that they were being followed.

Without a moment's notice, the entire prison was put on lock down.


End file.
